A Personal Devotional Journal

I invite you to journey with me. Sometimes we will look at short passages of Scripture and I will give my first thoughts and impressions. Other times, I will just share my thinking about spiritual issues. Always, you are welcome to comment and add your thoughts. Together, we could learn something.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Do Not Be Anxious" Matthew 6:25-34

"Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on.... your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.  But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

I read somewhere that there are close to a thousand named phobias and fears.  We have a tendency to worry, to be anxious, to be fearful.  But Jesus tells us (and really all throughout Scripture we are told) to not be anxious, to not worry, to not indulge fears.  Fear, by definition, is projecting evil into the future.  I'm ok today, but I worry about tomorrow.  Jesus says, "Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."  We have enough on our plates today, we can't afford to put tomorrow's potential problems on the plate too.  

Honestly, we don't know what tomorrow will bring.  The future is God's domain, not ours.  And projecting evil contradicts the goodness of God.

I read a quote on a friend's Facebook page.  I'm not sure who said it or the exact wording but the gist was this:  When fear comes knocking on your door, do not invite him in for dinner; but if he somehow gets in, for goodness sake, don't let him spend the night.

The bottom line is that fear is not from God.  No fear is from God.  We will occasionally be anxious and we will occasionally worry, but when we do this, our minds are not on the Kingdom.  One antidote to fear is seeking the Kingdom and His righteousness because when we are doing, walking, breathing God's will, He will provide.  Guaranteed.  The other antidote to fear: "Perfect love casts out all fear."  We need to allow Father to lavish His love on us -that is not selfish, it is necessary.

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